Combination refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner



May 16, 1961 s. B. wr-:RTHEIMER COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR, FREEZER AND AIR CONDITIONER Filed Sept. l0, 1959 Fic;

United States Patent O COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR, FREEZER, AND ArR coNDrrroNER Sidney B. Wentlleimer, 7403 Woodmar Ave., Hammond,y Ind.`

Filedsept. 1o, 1959, ser. No. 839,206

1 claim. (ci. sz-262.)

This invention relates to -a new and improved mechanical refrigeration unit adapted to act simultaneously as a food refrigerator, a freezer, and an air conditioner.

Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved unit which will simultaneously provide food refrigeration and room air conditioning.

It will be understood that the present invention may be applied to great advantage for air conditioning the kitchen of a home, while simultaneously providing a refrigerator and a freezer for the storage of food in the kitchen.'

`A further object is to provide anew and improved unit of the foregoing character which is so arranged that all of the heat removed from the room, as well as the heat removed from the refrigerator and the freezer, is discharged and disposed of outside the home, preferably by means of a condenser unit which may be mounted in awindow opening, or in a special opening which may be provided in the outside Wall of the home.

Another object is to provide a new and improved systern of the foregoing character, in which the efficiency of the refrigerator and the freezer is greatly increased by simultaneously air conditioning the kitchen or other room in which the refrigerator and freezer are located.

Itis a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved system of ythe foregoing character in which the water condensed `from the atmosphere by the airconditioner, aswell as the Water produced by conf densation or defrosting in the refrigerator, is employed to help cool the condenser unit of the refrigeration system'. Another object is to provide a new and improved re frigeration unit which occupies no more space than a con- Patented May 16, 19er As shown, the refrigeration system 10 comprises a lmain unit 12 and a condenser unit 14. The main unit 12' may be located in the 'kitchen of a home or apartment, while the condenser 14 is mounted so as .to communicate with the outside of the home or apartment building. For greatest convenience, itis preferred that the condenser unit 14 be mounted to extend through a window opening 16, in much the same manner as many of the present room air conditioners. 0f course, a special opening may be formed in the outside wall of the building for the condenser unit 14.

The main unit 12 of the refrigeration system may be formed with a box or housing 18' which resembles the box of a conventional food refrigerator. 'I'he box 18 is preferably provided with a refrigerator compartment 20, a freezer compartment 22, and a motor or machinery compartment 24. As shown, the refrigerator and freezer compartments 20 and 22' are provided with doors v26 and 28, while the front of the motor compartment 24 is closed by a removable panel or cover 30.

The freezer compartment 22 may be provided with evaporator coils 32, which may be ofany conventional or suitable.type. In some cases, the freezer evaporator coils 32 may be employed not only to coolrthe freezer 22, but also to cool the refrigerator 20. Alternatively, the refrigerator compartment 20 may be provided with a separate setof evaporator coils 34.

To provide for room air conditioning, the unit 12 isj preferably provided with a set of air conditioner evaporator coils 36 which may be mounted in a duct or conduit 38 through which the room air is circulated. In the illustratcd arrangement, the air duct 38 extends vertically ice along the rear of the box 18, behind the refrigerator and freezer compartments 20 and 22. A small blower 40, preferably of the centrifugal type, may be employed'to force theroom air upwardly through the duct 38. The cooled and dehumidiiied air may be discharged into the room through va discharge opening 42 at the top of the unit y12. The discharge opening 42vmay be directedforwardly so that the cooled will be blownoutwardly into the room. v w

The blower l40 maybe arranged to draw air .from the motor compartment 24. The room `air may enter the compartment 24 rthrough an intake opening 42. j A suitable dust filter` 44 may be .located betweenthe. in-l take-opening 42 and the compartment 24 so as torernoveA ventional food refrigerator, yet is also capable ofmair conditioning the room in which the unit ,is located. Still another object is to provide a new and` improved combined refrigerator, freezer and air conditioner-which isnot only efficient and highly serviceable, but also attrac n tivein appearance and low in cost.

-Further objects and advantages Vof the present invenf tion willappear from the following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 isa somewhat diagrammaticperspective view, showing a combined refrigerator, freezer and air conditioner, to be described as an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is asomewhat diagrammatic elevational sectionalY system 10 which is adapted to serve simultaneously as a dust from the air as it entersjthe compartment- 24.l In theillustrated arrangement, theintake opening 421s formed in the lower portion of the cover 30, while lthe air filter 44 is disposed behind the cover. I

Within the -motor'compartment 24, the unit I be provided with a' compressor 46 for'compressing- .theI

food refrigerator, a freezer, and a room` conditioner.

refrigerant. The compressor 46 may be driven by a suit-l able electric motor 48.` v

The evaporated refrigerant maybe carried tothe ycom-` pressor 46'from the evaporators 32, 34 and 36 -byqmeans of a-pipe'orftube 50. The compressed refrigerant jis carried from a compressor 46 to the condenser-unit A14g by a pipe or tube 52. Preferably, the tube 52 issuiciently flexible to permit location of the condenser unit` 14 in any convenient position, soV that the condenser unit may readily be mounted in a window opening or the,

like. Thus, vthe tube 52 may take the form ofa llexible hose. A second iiexible tube or hose 54 may be employed to carry the cooled and condensed refrigerant from the condenser unit 14-to the evaporatorsl 32, 34 and 36J p V l As'shown, the condenser unit 14 comprises ya setv of condenser coilsz56 through which the hot compressed refrigerant passes so as tobecqoled and condensed.-v Thecondenser unit 14 isv 4arrangedfso thatthe air outside the building will be circulated thIOLIgh-,h GQEIGRBWI;

coils 56. As shown, the condenser unit 14 is arranged for a non-protruding or tiush installation, in which only the outer face of the condenser unit 14 need be exposed to the outside air. Thus, the condenser unit 14 has an air intake `opening 5,8 andv a discharge opening '60 whichsare side by side on the outer face of the condenser unit 14. The openings 58 Vand 60 are separated from each other by va vertical partition 62 whichextends from front to rear through the condenser lunit 14. The condenser coils 56 may be arranged to extend across both the intake opening 58 and the discharge opening 60. To force ftheA outside air through the condenser coils 56, a small f an or blower 64 may be mounted in an opening 66 which is formed in lthe rear portion of the partition 62. Thus, the outside air may be drawn inwardly through the opening 58 and forced outwardly throughv the opening 60. The condenser unit 14 is provided with an outer housing which formsV a duct adapted to carry the air through the condenser coils 56.

It will be understood that the air conditioner evaporator coils 36 are effective to condense moisture from the room air which is circulated through the coils. In this way, the lroom air is dehumidied. At times, the evaporator coils 32 and 34 for the freezer 22 and the refrigerator may be effective to condense moisture from the air which pass over these coils. Moreover, the defrosting of the freezer 22 and the refrigerator 20 willproduce vcondensed water. In the present system, the water condensed by the evaporator coils 32, 34 and 3'6Y is collected and is preferably employed to cool the condenser coils 56, so as to improve the eiciency of the system. Thus, aA trough or other' container 70 is preferably disposed under the air conditioner evaporator coils 36 to collect condensed water. Likewise, troughs 72 and 74 may be located under the evaporator coils 32 and 34. A drain pipe 76 may be connected to the tsrgughs 70, 72 and 74 by means of branches 78, 80 and It is preferred to employ a third flexible tube or hose 78 to connect the drain pipe to the condenser unit 14. As' shown, the tube 78 may be connected to a pipe 80 which discharges the condensed water over the condenser coils 56. It will be understood that the water cools the condenser coils 56 by taking up both sensible and latent heat, as the water is warmed andevaporated in passing over the condenser coils. Any water which is not evaporated is collected by a trough or container 82 and is carried to a drain pipe 84, which may be arranged to discharge the water on the ground outside the building. Actually, only a slight trickle or occasional drops of water will be discharged from the drain pipe 84 in the normalY operation of the system.

It is preferred to combine the three tubes 52, 54 and 72 into a triple core flexible tubing unit 88, which may easily be installed along the baseboards and over the door .frames in the room in which the refrigeration syst'em is located. The triple tube unit 88 may be made highly compact, and may be given any desired color, to blend with the color scheme of the room.

In the operation of the combined air conditioner, refrigerator and freezer, the blower 40 circulates 'the room air over the air conditioner evaporator coils 36, which cool and dehumidify the air. Thus, the temperature and the humidity in the room are reduced to comfortable levels. The reduction` in the room temperature reduces the load on the refrigerator 20 and the freezer 22. Thus, less refrigerating capacity is required t'o operate the refrigerator and the freezer- The reduction in the humidity of the room air results in a great reduction intheV condensation and frost formation in the refrigerator 20 and the freezer 22. Thus, the refrigerator andthe freezer operate with greatly increased eiciency. Moreover, there is much less need for defrosting the refrigerator and the freezer.

The condenser unit 14 is effective to discharge all of thoheat output. from the-refrigeration system, outside,

the home or building in which the unit 12 is located. Accordingly, there is no need for the air conditioning apparatus to remove the heat which is discharged into the room by a conventional refrigerator or freezer. The load on the air conditioning system is thus reduced. Moreover, the condenser unit makes it possible to cool the condenser coils more effectively, with the result that the efciency of the refrigeration system is greatly increased.

It will be understood that the system of the present invention may be provided with any known or suitable controls of the thermostatic type so that the desired temperatures will be maintained by the refrigeration, freezer and air conditioner components.

The cost of the combined air conditioner, refrigerator and freezer is comparable to the cost of a conventional refrigerator and freezer, and is much less than the combined cost of a conventional air conditioner and a conventional refrigerator and freezer. The main u nit 12 of the combination air conditioner, refrigerator and freezer occupies approximately the same space as a conventional refrigerator and freezer. Thus, no additional oor space is required in the room. The small condenser unit is compact, inconspicuous and easy to install in a window opening or a special opening in the Wall. The entire system is thus economical, eicient, pleasing in appearance, and remarkably compact.

It will be apparent that various other modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, as exemplified in the foregoing description and defined in the following claim.

claim:

In a combination air conditioner, food refrigerator and freezer, the combination comprising a main unit having a refrigerator compartment and a separate freezer compartment therein, said main unit having a motor compartment therein adjacent the lower end thereof, said main unit having a disengage'able closure mounted over the front of said motor compartment, said closure having an air inlet therein and an air filter disengageably mounted on said closure over said inlet, evaporator coils for cooling said refrigerator compartment and said freezer compartment, a du'ct in said unit extending upwardly along the rear side thereof from the` rear of said motor compartment, additional evaporator coils insaid duct, a blower in saidmoto'r compartment for drawing in air through saidY air inlet and said filter and forcing such air into the lower end o'f said duct, said duct having an air outlet at the 'u'ppe'r end of said main unit, a motor-compressor unit insaidV motor compartment between said air inlet and said blower for receiving and' compressing refrigerant from said' evaporator' coils, saidrmotor compressor unit being cooled by the' air' drawn through said motor compartment by said blower, a condenser unit having condenser coils therein, a fan in said condenser unit for circulating outside air through said condenser coils, said condenser unit being' adapted to be located outside the room to be air conditioned, a first tube for carrying refrigerant from said motorlcompr'essor unit to said condenser coilsi, a second tube for'car'rying'the refrigerant from said condenser coils to said evaporators, means for collecting condensed water from said evaporatorcoils, a third tube for carrying the collected'wat'er from said main unit to said condenser unit, fm'eans in said condenser unitfor directing the con'- den'sed' water over the condenser coils to c'ool said coils, and means for carrying away any remaining condensed t'v'a'ter'fromsaidA condenser coils.

' Y References Citdlin' the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

